by Ramprasad Sen
Who can explain your play, Mother?
What do You take, what give back?
You give and take again.
For You dawn and dusk are the same.
Nothing can stop Your perfect freedom.
You give exactly what’s deserved.
Even Shiva
Under Your feet, forgets
Your great design.
I see what You show me—a stone
Floating on water.
Ramprasad is Your son;
He can see right through those old ploys.
—from Grace and Mercy in Her Wild Hair, by Leonard Nathan and Clinton Seely
The Cosmic Mother 